Genius Blacksmith's Game

[Admiration occurs!!]

...Hm?

Hyunsoo, who had finished testing Demon’s Gauntlet of the Admired One beautifully, frowned in confusion.

He had already checked the dictionary meaning of Admiration, so it gave him chills.

Him? Toward me?

Hyunsoo looked at Grout as if he were staring at a bug.

Just then.

Wait. His eyes...

Hyunsoo’s expression turned puzzled.

Grout’s HP had plummeted, and he was dying.

But the expression on his face was completely different from what Hyunsoo had expected.

There was anger in it.

His wildly pumping chest also made it clear he was in an extreme state of excitement.

And yet his eyes acknowledged Hyunsoo.

Hold on...

Realizing something was strange, Hyunsoo felt he needed to test it.

So he sent a whisper to someone.

[Hyunsoo: I admire you, Kabel.]

If things were as Hyunsoo had assumed, Kabel should have spat in Hyunsoo’s face and blocked him.

But the answer that came back was entirely different from what he expected.

[Kabel: All of a sudden? In any case, thank you. I never knew you thought of me that way. That is excessive praise.]

Excessive praise?

Kabel was not the sort to send such an openly pleased reply.

So Hyunsoo explained the situation, and another whisper arrived.

[Kabel: When I investigated you, I learned you once scored 15 points on a Korean language test in school, so this does not surprise me.]

It was a Kabel-style joke.

No matter how much of an information dealer he was, he had no reason to dig into a friend’s past.

Besides, Hyunsoo knew the information was wrong, so he laughed it off.

I’ve gotten 4 points before, but never 15.

At any rate, Kabel answered.

[Kabel: Admiration can be described as an emotion that begins with respect and reverence for someone, then becomes the desire to become like that person, and because one wants to become like them, a deep longing for them. In other words, it is a word above respect. Respecting someone does not necessarily mean you want to become like them.]

Oh?

Now that he heard it, that was true.

Just because someone respected and revered a schoolteacher did not mean they wanted to become like that teacher.

Kabel added one more thing.

[Kabel: A power that can draw out such Admiration... What in the world have you been doing to obtain something like that?]

Hyunsoo could feel a trace of envy from Kabel.

Of course, after hearing that much, Hyunsoo understood Admiration.

There’s no way it activates at random.

If this effect simply occurred, would the target admire him?

No.

A stranger seeing Hyunsoo for the first time could not suddenly admire him.

There had to be a “reason” for it.

“How did you do this in only one year!”

Yes. Just like the reason Grout was shouting right now.

Which meant the power called Admiration was not a random activation. It would likely activate only rarely in those who met specific conditions, or those with some kind of story behind them.

Wait. Could what I’m thinking of actually work?

Summoning Grout whenever he wanted and filling up all kinds of things through him.

What Hyunsoo had definitely seen in Grout’s eyes just now was this:

The desire to become like him.

“...So that’s what kind of power this is.”

Hyunsoo had become certain about Admiration.

If it worked like this, it might truly be possible to make Grout submit.

However.

[Admiration grows faint.]

An unexpected notification rang out.

Ah...

Hyunsoo realized it belatedly.

Just because someone felt that emotion for a moment did not mean the emotion would continue.

In fact, the Admiration had vanished from Grout’s face again, leaving only anger and evil behind.

That’s it?

He had gotten his hopes up, only for the power to scatter far more easily than expected, and a hollow feeling washed over him.

Was it only my own expectation that the emotion would last?

At that very moment, Grout, whose Admiration had completely disappeared, was rampaging so violently that Hyunsoo could no longer control him.

It was only fortunate that all his power was being restrained by the gauntlet’s effect. Otherwise, Hyunsoo would have been in danger.

Wait...?

Just then.

Hyunsoo arrived at one thought.

The reason Grout admired him.

Grout had said it several times.

How could you do this in only one year!

Kraaaagh, what is that gauntlet supposed to be?

Impossible. This is impossible!

In other words, the reason Grout admired him was because he had grown so much in such a short time.

Then?

I just need to create even greater Admiration.

Someone in whom Admiration had already activated once.

Would it never appear again just because the skill’s effect had faded?

No.

That emotion would sprout again.

Found it.

Hyunsoo, who had found the method, smiled brightly.

Then, as he cut off Grout’s head, he said,

“I’ll see you again soon.”

That was the reason.

The reason Hyunsoo had used “every means” he possessed to hunt Grout endlessly.

*****

“Master......?”

Grout’s words told Hyunsoo that his plan had succeeded.

This actually works?

Not only that, but after being beaten over and over again, Grout carefully knelt.

“I will call you Master, so please stop now.”

Hyunsoo felt deeply moved.

I’m really becoming Grout’s actual master?

Grout.

The demon he had first encountered after meeting Arbel.

And Grout was definitely a special existence.

Honestly, Hyunsoo knew better than anyone that he was amazing and outstanding.

And that Grout was pledging loyalty to him?

In truth, he was suspicious too.

Grout was a demon whose schemes he could not read.

But Grout explained.

“I had a father called Great Archdemon Belphegor. As soon as I was born, he...”

Hyunsoo silently listened to his story.

Oh?

Grout’s complicated personal history continued, and soon he began explaining the reason he had decided to serve him.

“By watching your growth and everything you have achieved, I realized something. If I am with you, I too may be able to grow even greater! Please accept me!”

Grout paid his respects as a demon.

He knelt on one knee and prepared to kiss the back of Hyunsoo’s hand.

And inwardly, Grout laughed.

It is humiliating to enter as a servant. But if I am with this man, I may truly become a Great Archdemon. I may also obtain his arms.

He admired Hyunsoo, and the reason was Hyunsoo’s artifact-crafting ability.

His plan was to become a vassal and receive Hyunsoo’s creations one by one.

Also, he was the Blood Demon.

If he said he would subordinate himself, there was no way Hyunsoo would refuse.

But that was Grout’s mistake.

“No thanks.”

“...?”

Grout panicked.

“W-Were you not beating me like this in order to tame me?”

Grout was the Demon of Knowledge.

He knew that among human tamers, there were occasionally people who beat their targets like dogs to force obedience.

Had Hyunsoo not been inducing exactly that?

“Nope.”

“Then why in the world...!?”

Amid Grout’s confusion, Hyunsoo said bluntly,

“Because it was fun.”

“...”

Demon Grout.

The moment he heard those words, his reason snapped again.

“Kraaaaaagh, you bastard worse than a damn demon! @#!@#!@# I’ll kill you!”

He charged at Hyunsoo once more.

Of course, he was forcibly logged out again.

Then Hyunsoo summoned him again and repeated the process of beating him down.

And there were people watching this in bewilderment.

*****

The Special User Management Team was in shock.

“Why...?”

“Why in the world?”

No one there could understand it.

User Hyunsoo had beaten Grout for a full two days.

Had he simply beaten him?

No.

His vassals and pets were one thing.

But he had even displayed the boldness to call Aria and Karsel in order to show Grout what kind of being he was.

That was a weight he would have to repay later.

But why?

“Could it really be because he finds it fun?”

Team Lead Kim said, staring at the monitor with shaking eyes.

But Lee Jihui shook her head.

“You know from User Hyunsoo’s actions so far that he isn’t that kind of person.”

That was certainly true.

User Hyunsoo could be a little clumsy at times, but he was an intelligent user.

Then.

Lee Sejin, who had been standing with their arms crossed and thinking deeply, widened their eyes.

“Don’t tell me...!”

They looked at Hyunsoo with a shocked expression.

When everyone there looked at them in confusion, Lee Sejin said,

“Grout saw possibility in User Hyunsoo. He came to believe that if he stayed with him, he might truly be able to grow into a Great Archdemon. But Hyunsoo said he didn’t want to accept him.”

That was why it was incomprehensible.

User Hyunsoo needed Grout, so why was he doing this?

Lee Sejin answered that question.

“Then what do you think someone desperate would do to a person who says he doesn’t need them?”

“...?”

Those words made the Special User Management Team think deeply.

After pondering it carefully, Team Lead Kim let out a hollow laugh.

“Of course, he’d give everything he had.”

The moment he said that, Team Lead Kim grew flustered.

The reason was simple.

Grout.

He was a demon who had lived in the human world for more than a thousand years.

Which meant the things he possessed in the human world might defy common sense.

*****

“Tee-hee, tee-hee, ehehehe.”

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAK—!

Hyunsoo was literally continuing to beat Grout down.

“Kugh, ugh, hgh, ack!”

He had enough justification.

“You think I’d accept a demon like you as my servant!? Think about what you’ve done.”

Grout was the being who had locked Arte in a cage.

He was also someone who had slaughtered countless humans for amusement.

Because he had all those justifications, Hyunsoo could keep beating him.

“Gah, kuhugh, agh! There, n-no!!”

CRUNCH—!

Something burst, but Hyunsoo did not care.

Grout’s story also helped.

So you absolutely want to become a Great Archdemon, huh? And you want to kill the father who made you this way.

Hyunsoo “needed” him. He was not “desperate” for him.

For Hyunsoo, it was fine if he had Grout. For Grout, Hyunsoo was something he could not do without.

“You baaaaaastard, stop toying with me!”

Watching Grout shed bloody tears, Hyunsoo did feel a little anxious that he might lose even this demon who had offered to become his “servant.”

And Grout was, quite literally, desperate.

It has to be this man!!!

Even a Great Archdemon could not make arms like his.

Grout also understood why Hyunsoo was beating him.

It was exactly as Hyunsoo thought.

After being beaten like that for a while, Grout suddenly realized one fact.

...Wait.

Now that he thought about it, the reason he had chosen Hyunsoo was because he wanted to receive artifacts.

And yet, was he really trying to pledge loyalty empty-handed and ask for them?

When he thought it over carefully, it made no sense.

Yes. Had he not been shameless?

“I have something to give you!”

Hyunsoo reacted to the words “something to give you.”

“What is it? If it’s trash, that’s fifty more times.”

But at the very least, Hyunsoo thought he would have to repeat this dozens of times before Grout gave him everything he had.

Besides, he might hide the important things away tightly.

Then.

A notification rang out.

[Grout lived in the human world for a thousand years and accumulated many things over that time.]

[He hid all of them in the tomb of his mother, Vampire Duchess Lela.]

[You obtain a map leading to Vampire Duchess Lela’s tomb.]

“I will give you everything I have.”

Then the notifications rang out in greater detail.

[You learn the list of Grout’s treasures inside Vampire Duchess Lela’s tomb.]

[Transcendent artifact. Grout’s Cruel Sword exists.]

[Transcendent skill book. Blood Cry exists.]

[Legendary mineral. Blood Ore Stone exists.]

“I’ll give you everything my mother possessed too! So please!”

[Vampire Duchess Lela is the only vampire to have ever reached the 8th Class as a mage.]

[Transcendent artifact. Vampire Duchess Lela’s Cloak exists.]

[Transcendent skill book. Blood Festival exists.]

[8th Class magic book. Dis exists.]

Still kneeling, Grout continued speaking without stopping.

“Please accept me as your servant! I’ll give you all my money too!”

[15,712,013 gold exists.]

Amid Grout’s desperate cry.

Hyunsoo fell into shock.

Fifteen billion!?

Because Grout had even more amazing things than he had expected.

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